Time and Time Again
by Sadie Lovegood
Summary: Sirius and Remus stumble upon a Time Turner one afternoon, and decide to use it in order to go back in time to prevent the deaths of James, Lily, and Bastet. But they soon realize that sometimes, even bad things happen for the greater good...
1. The Bookmark

"**Time and Time Again"**

_**A/N: **__I promised a Lupin/Tonks one shot at the end of my last story, and that will be appearing very soon, I just want to make it REALLY good because it is, after all, only a one-shot. In the meantime, I have another Marauders' tale for you! I have also included my Marauder OC, Bastet in this fic, because I wanted to further her character a bit. If you're confused by Bastet at all, read my other Marauder's Fic: __**Harry Potter: A Prologue**__. All (or most) of your questions shall be answered! I also make reference to said fic in this one, so refer to my previous one for those details. Enjoy, and don't flame me, but do review!! _

_**General Summary: **__Takes place the summer before OOTP.__Remus and Sirius are living a very miserable life. They're best friends are either dead or traitors, not to mention, neither of them have a love life to speak of. One fateful day, Sirius discovers a Time-Turner, and the two of them decide to use it to go back in time and change history so that James, Lily, and Bastet would still be alive and with them in the present. But soon they realize that sometimes even bad things happen for the greater good…_

_**Rating: T-16 for violence, swearing, and drama. **_

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_One upon a time there was light in my life,_

_Now there's only love in the dark,_

_Nothing I can say, a total eclipse of the heart…_

Sirius grunted and quickly turned off the damn Muggle radio before he heard another not of that dratted song. It was written 14 years ago…why are they still playing it incessantly, as if it were the only song left on earth? It made Sirius cringe every time he heard it, and it killed part of him to hear it nearly every day. It was the song that was playing that day 14 years ago…to date it was the last purely happy memory Sirius had ever had. It was the song playing when he and Bastet made love for the first…and only time.

Now, sitting in his old room, plastered with Gryffindor posters and other various artifacts from his youth, Sirius felt himself wanting to melt into the walls. He was the only one in the house for the time being. As the summer drew to a close, the Order would reunite here. But the summer had barely begun, so Sirius had 2 long, endless months to wait.

This room, so many memories. Not the making love memory (that had occurred in Bastet's apartment), but so many others with not just his dead girlfriend, but his friends, James, Lily, Remus, and Peter (ugh). Just 15 years ago, they were all wild and carefree with nothing stopping them from taking over the world and painting it red. Then, of course, Peter had to go and destroy it all slyly from right under their noses. Only he and Remus managed to survive Peter's betrayal. James and Lily were killed by Voldemort as a result of Peter's revealing their hiding place secret to him. Sirius, wanting revenge, had challenged Peter on the street outside this very building, and Bastet ended up being killed in the crossfire while saving Sirius' own life. Since that day, Remus and Sirius, especially Sirius, had suffered the consequences of Peter's betrayal. Sirius was sent to Azkaban in Peter's place on false accusations and spent 12 of the last 14 years suffering and sitting. Remus, who already had his own problems to deal with, was especially sensitive to the deaths of his friends. Bastet was like a little sister to him, and James and Lily always made Remus love to be alive. Now it was just the two of them, fighting against prejudice, and the sudden re-rising of Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

Life sucked.

Sirius sat on the floor beside his old bed and fingered through the old letters and photos of their Hogwarts days. What he wouldn't give to go back to that school as a 15 year old boy again…

"YOU DARE DISTURB THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS, YOU BLOOD TRAITOR!!!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "SHUT **UP**, MUM!!" Sirius wished there wasn't a permanent-sticking charm on that damn painting downstairs. Suddenly, he realized that someone must be downstairs. Who could it be? The Order wasn't meeting for 2 months…

"Padfoot?" called a worn-sounding voice from downstairs. Sirius recognized it instantly as that of Remus Lupin.

"Moony!" Sirius called, shooting up and bounding out of his room like a child running outside on a sunny afternoon. From the top of the stairs, he could see Remus standing in the hallway, smiling weakly. "What are you doing here?"

"I got a case of the blues," said Remus bluntly. Damn, thought Sirius. It was as if they shared a soul.

"Come on upstairs, I was just pulling out the old box of letters!" Sirius said. His mood dramatically improved. While still feeling down, at least he could feel down with a friend now. Sirius and Remus went upstairs and shut the door to Sirius' room. They sat on the floor and immediately began looking through the letters.

"Awww…look at this one!" Remus teased. "It a lo-ove letter!"

Sirius blushed. "Give it here!" He said, making a grab for it. Remus kept it in his hand, and he read from it aloud: "Dearest Padfoot, only 3 months until graduation! I can't believe we've been together three years! Now that we're nearly out of school, we can have a real life together without having to worry about Peeves making fun of us and throwing ink pellets at us every other word! Meet me in the common room after Potions, and we can have a private little dinner in the clock tower, I already have it approved by Dumbledore. Hope you can make it! Yours forever, Bastet!" Remus laughed lightly. Sirius pouted and sighed.

"At least I HAD a girl back in school!" he bounded back. Remus frowned.

"Ouch," he remarked. Sirius crossed his arms and sighed, looking at a black-and-white photo of he, Remus, Lily, Bastet, and Peter waving to the camera while sitting under the tree they so loved to study at.

"We were fools," said Sirius.

"Huh?"

"None of us really LIKED Wormtail…did we?" asked Sirius.

"I really wasn't partial to the boy myself, but James insisted on giving him a chance," said Remus.

"It makes me wonder…if only we KNEW what was going to happen, then we could have left him out of our circle of friends, and everyone would still be alive. Bastet and I could be married by now, maybe have a few children even…Harry would still have his parents and not be living with those god-awful Muggles who treat him like shit," Sirius lamented. Remus groaned.

"It sounds like it almost could have been that way, instead of us, two grown men, sitting on the floor of your room feeling sorry for ourselves."

"It seems like such an easy thing to fix…if only we could go back in time," said Sirius.

"Oh, damnit!" Remus suddenly swore, holding a torn letter in his hand. "I just ripped the letter…"

Sirius shrugged. "It's no big deal, but I left my wand downstairs…"

Sirius and Remus got off the floor and shuffled out of Sirius' room. Sirius sighed again woefully, thinking to himself how easy it would be to change the past so that the future was much brighter, all with one choice of a friend. If Peter wasn't friends with any of them, not only would everyone be alive, but Sirius wouldn't have spend 12 year in Azkaban suffering and waiting for revenge! 12 wasted years of life Sirius could have spent on the outside…

Sirius, lost in thought, had no idea where he was going, and tripped over a bookcase that was in the middle of the hallway. Luckily, he was able to steady himself, and the bookcase, and only one book fell to the floor. It was one of his mother's old romance novels called _"The Witch's Last Spell."_ Remus bent down and picked up the book, which had fallen open onto the ground. Remus shelved it and walked on, but Sirius fell behind. Remus quickly looked back.

"What do you suppose this is?" asked Sirius. He was holding up a long golden chain that had fallen out of the book. Remus dashed back top have a look at it. He couldn't believe his eyes. On the end of the long chain was an hourglass.

"Damned if I'm wrong, but this looks like a Time-Turner…" Remus muttered.

Sirius lifted a bushy eyebrow and scowled. "Why would my mother hide a Time-Turner in a crappy romance—"

"—never mind that!" said Remus. "Talk about your coincidence…"

"Are you kidding me?" asked Sirius. "A Time-Turner? We were just—I was just—"

"I know," said Remus. "You think we could…ahem…give 'er a try?" Remus asked, taking the chain from Sirius and studying it. "Maybe fate gave this to us," he suggested.

"Or maybe my mother in her senile oldness used it as a bookmark and forgot where she left it…" Sirius said. Remus snorted.

"I'd bed my Sickles on the latter," he joked. Sirius and Remus looked at each other.

"You really think we should…?" asked Sirius.

Remus looked around. "I don't see why not. Think about it, with this, and if we do everything right wherever we end up, you could have your family with Bastet, Sirius," said Remus.

Sirius smiled at the thought. "Harry won't be on the run from Voldemort. James and Lily will still be living," he added. Remus nodded.

"All we really have to do is get Wormtail away from the rest of us, and then we can spring forward again!" said Remus. "We'll go to Hogwarts, of course. We'd have to Apparate there from here."

"But…we're two fully grown wizards, Remus," said Sirius. "It'll look a little suspicious having two shaggy old farts like us walking around a school," he said.

"We'll be able to figure something out later," said Remus. "We can always sneak into our dorm room," he said.

"That's right! I always had a case of Polyjuice Potion under my bed for pranking around with James!" Sirius recalled. Remus nodded. He took the chain and placed it around his neck first, then around Sirius' neck. Sirius looked at Remus and took a deep breath.

"For Bastet…" he said.

"For James and Lily…" Remus nodded.

"For all of us," they said together. Remus then flipped over the hourglass several times, counting under his breath as he flipped. After a few minutes turning and counting, Remus let go of the hourglass, and the world suddenly began spinning around them.

They were on their way to changing their lives.


	2. Memory Lane

_**Chapter Summary: **__Remus and Sirius find themselves revisiting their old school days and can't believe how much time has done to them. Mainly a filler. Review anyways!_

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As the world slowed down around them and finally came to a stop, Remus and Sirius didn't say a word, but first Apparated to Hogwarts…or, rather…outside of Hogwarts. The grounds looked fresh, young and beautiful. The air was cool, crisp, but still had an essence of light and warmth about it. Faint outlines of students in black robes were scattered about the grounds. It must have been a weekend. No one looked like they were in classes. The Whomping Willow swerved it's long branches around and around off to the side of the hill, from afar it looked like it was a gently sway, but both Remus and Sirius knew it was a violent swing once one got closer. The sun was peeking out over the east hills, so it was probably no more than 9 o'clock in the morning. Something about the atmosphere made Remus and Sirius shiver.

"What year is this, Remus?" asked Sirius. Remus shrugged. He was just glad he didn't overturn the Time Turner…he was just winging it. He'd never used a Turner before.

"We need to get up into our old dormitory room and get some Polyjuice Potion from under you bed, Sirius," said Remus. Sirius agreed and nodded. "We'll just have to be careful getting up there is all."

Sirius nodded and took a breath. The two men slowly advanced on the school. It was as if the path took forever and a day to walk down, and they both had to be certain that none of the student saw them as they came closer. Just before entering school grounds, they saw a small group of young girls appearing to be in their second or third year walking with some books towards a small oak tree just outside campus. Sirius chuckled to himself and nudged Remus. He pointed to a tall, chubby blonde girl with big, pouty lips and small, pudgy feet that didn't look like they could hold the weight of that big girl up for too long.

"Recognize her, Remus?" he giggled. Remus looked confused, then he realized who she was and groaned.

"Oh no," he moaned.

"That's Rosalind Centauri! She fancied you, Remus!" Sirius said with a mock sing-song voice. Remus grunted.

"Let's just get inside," he said back. The men waited for the girls to move along, and then they saw a clear path to the entrance to the clock tower. Gryffindor tower wasn't far from there. "How old do you reckon she looked?"

"Well, her hair was curly until the end of second year…so she's a third year, no more than that," said Sirius, recalling. Remus nodded. They found themselves in a long corridor that led to the stairwell that, in turn, led to the Gryffindor common room. No one was inside on such a beautiful fall morning, so they were fairly safe…unless Filch was around…but Sirius and Remus thought he would be spending the free time doting on Mrs. Norris the Sixth (every cat he got he named Mrs. Norris). SO Sirius and Remus walked casually, careful to duck whenever they came across a painting.

"That means we're fifth years," Remus said. Sirius grinned and laughed. "What?"

"Don't you remember? That was a Triwizard Tournament year at school!" Sirius reminded Remus. "This is autumn of the Triwizard Tournament year!" he grinned. "Don't you remember what happened that year?"

Remus shook his head. "I don't think so…"

Sirius tried very hard to surpress a huge belly laugh while they walked cautiously towards the Gryffindor common room. "The Yule Ball was a riot, remember? You went with Lily—"

"—AS FRIENDS, Sirius! She didn't have a date and neither did I! Damn, man, you must be young again because you sound like a teenager!" Remus rolled his eyes.

"And James got all pissed about it and made Peter take Polyjuice Potion so he looked like a girl prettier than Lily!"

Remus felt himself trying to choke back a laugh as well. "And THEN, everyone voted James and Peter as Prince and Princess of Yule!"

"And the crowning ceremony was when Peter changed back into himself!" Sirius finished. The men did let themselves laugh a bit. Fifth year was a good year to come back to, because it was, as far as both Sirius and Remus felt, their best year at school. The weekends in Hogsmeade were a riot, the Triwizard Tasks were exciting to watch, there was even some Quidditch gamed in between tasks that were exciting, and, as Sirius recalled, this was the first year that he and Bastet were a serious couple.

"Sirius? Do you think we're in Hogsmeade this morning?" asked Remus. Sirius shook his head.

"Hogsmeade weekends didn't start until after the first frost this year, remember?"

"Oh, yeah!" Remus nodded, understandingly. "Where do you think we are now?"

Sirius thought a moment. "The Great Hall, I guess, doing some homework?"

Remus and Sirius looked at each other. "Yeah, right!" they said in unison.

"Homework!"

"That was a good one!"

The two time-travelers went to a window and looked down over the courtyard. Student were sitting and standing around, going on as if they didn't know what 20 years into the future was going to bring them. Then again…they didn't know, did they?

Sirius and Remus then heard some whispering from down the corridor. They ducked behind a statue. It sounded like four or five people walking towards them. Hopefully they were both hidden well enough.

Neither men expected to find who they found turn that corner, but when they saw who it was, their jaws dropped. Four boys and a girl. The tallest boy was very handsome, with his dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and his stubby facial hair complementing his pronounced chin. The handsome boy had his arm around a girl with a short, curvy frame; she had wide hips but a nice pair of legs. The girl's curly hair was a vivid orange color this morning, reaching halfway down her back. The second boy was only slightly shorter than the first, wearing round glasses and having to push his unruly black hair out of his eyes every few minutes to see where he was going. The third man was of average height with lighter colored hair. He had a scar running across his left cheek, as if a nail of some creature had scratched him there. He looked tired and a little shabby compared to the taller two men, who looked lively and handsome. The last boy was at least a foot shorter than any of the men, and about four inches shorter than the girl. His hair was also a lighter color. His nose was large and stuck out, his eyes squint and small. His teeth were pronouncedly larger as well. All of the teenagers wore black school robes, save for the bespectacled boy and the girl, who wore red and gold Quidditch robes.

Sirius and Remus couldn't believe it. It was James, Bastet, Peter, and themselves as fifth year students at Hogwarts!

"There must have been a Quidditch game today or something," Remus noted. Sirius nodded.

"We should go see it," said Sirius.

"We can IF we can get to the Polyjuice Potion first…" Remus warned. Sirius nodded. "Now, sh! I want to listen!"  
The small group had stopped after the turned the corner.

"What time is the match?" asked young Sirius.

"Noon," answered Bastet. "Then we slaughter the Slytherins, right, Prongs?"

The boy in Quidditch robes nodded. "Damn straight!"

Sirius smiled. He suddenly remember the match. They did win. If this was the game he was thinking of, it was even a shutout.

"I bet Prongs' hoping the Beauxbatons girls will be watching, eh?" teased Remus. Young James blushed, as did Old Remus. Old Sirius nudged him in the arm.

"You were quite the jokester too back then!" Sirius said. "I miss you…"

"If not those silly birds, at least we know ROSALIND will be watching!" Peter mocked. Young Remus blushed at the comeback, again, Old Remus blushed even redder.

"Haha! Wormtail strikes again!" James said, high-fiving his short accomplice. Old Sirius gritted his teeth.

"He's the one we need to get away from the rest of them! Then he'll never have the chance to betray James and Lily years later…" he said to Old Remus. Suddenly, more footsteps could be heard as a taller girl ran to catch up to the gang. The girl was bonier than Bastet, and her hair was a more natural shade of red. Her face was very pretty. Sirius, Peter, Remus, and Bastet smiled as she caught up to them. James scrunched up his nose as if he'd smelled some foul odor.

"I just wanted you wish you good luck, Bastet!" said Lily.

"I was wondering where you were!" Bastet said, hugging her best mate. Sirius nodded and remembered how Bastet was to Lily as he was to James. Kind of a foreshadowing occurrence, looking back.

"A-HEM…" James cleared his throat loudly. Lily ignored James and instead, turned to Sirius.

"Sirius, no throwing Dungbombs at the Slytherins on their brooms again. McGonagall told me to tell you that one more time it will be detention for a month," she warned. Young Sirius gave a look of indifference.

Bastet turned to look at James. "We need to report to the field and warm up a bit," she nodded at James.

Young Sirius looked at Bastet. "I'll be cheering you on even if you suck miserably…"

Bastet playfully punched Sirius in the arm. Then Sirius bent down to kiss his girlfriend. James groaned.

"Get a damn room!" he moaned. Young Remus laughed. Bastet and Young Sirius turned to James and stuck their tongues out. After another moment of laughing, Bastet and James dashed the opposite way down the hall, and the others walked past the statue where Old Sirius and Old Remus hid towards the Quidditch field. When the coast was clear, Sirius and Remus got up and looked down the hall and began walking again.

"We were best mates," Remus moaned. "I wish we could've stayed like that forever," he sighed.

Sirius nodded. "Well, if we do this right, we can be, minus the rat," he reminded. "Come, let's get to the Polyjuice Potion stash…"

Sirius and Remus dashed into the main stairwell and approached the Fat Lady picture. She eyes the men up and down and looked confused. "Who are you?"

"Just hired by Filch," lied Remus. "Squibs, we're part of the newly instated cleaning service."

The Fat Lady nodded. "They need that around here. Apparently, as brave as the Gryffindors may be, they sure as hell don't know how to conquer a trashbin…password?"

Sirius thought back for a moment. What was the fifth year password…?

Remus suddenly spoke. "_Gluteus Medius_," he said.

The Fat Lady made a gesture and the painting opened. As they climbed inside, Sirius gave Remus an odd look. "How the bloody hell did you remember that?"

"I was a prefect, remember?"

"Oh yeah, I'm sure every Hogwarts ex-prefect remembers their passwords!"

"At least not the ones who spent all day snogging their girlfriends and hurling Dungbombs at Slytherins on broom!" Remus retorted.

"Ouch," said Sirius, rolling his eyes as they sped up to their old room. Sirius could go straight to his old bed in a flash. He k new which one it was, because there were two photographs by his bed. One was of him and Bastet with arms around each other, and the other was Sirius and his favorite cousin, Andromeda Black. Sirius dove under the bed and pulled out an old box and opened it. There were 20 or so bottles of Polyjuice Potion just waiting for the hairs.

Sirius pulled a small baggie of hairs from a small compartment beside the box.

"I always kept hairs from other students just in case," Sirius said. He took two of the largest bottles (they needed to take a sip every hour on the hour) and handed one to Remus. They dropped the hairs in and waited a moment. Sirius took a moment to recall whose hairs they were.

"You have Stanley Henson," said Sirius. "I have Jonas Robinson."

"Are they still students here?" asked Remus.

Sirius shook his head. "Expelled fourth year, but none of us knew that, did we?"

Remus thought. "I guess not!" he said. He lifted his bottle in the air. Sirius clanked his glass against Remus' bottle in a toast.

"To us!" chimed Sirius.

"To our mission being a success!" chirped Remus.

"To our younger selves being so damn good looking!" Sirius added. Remus smirked, then both men sipped the potion. They chokes, forgetting how disgusting it usually tasted.

"Cheewrs…" moaned Sirius, experiencing ghastly aftertaste.


	3. Quidditch Rewind

_**Chapter Summary: **__Remus and Sirius watch a Quidditch game from the past…and uncover some important information that could help them on their mission…_

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Remus' Polyjuice potion took effect first (he was less body to transform). Remus shot up and ended up taller than Sirius. He had long blonde hair go halfway down his back and his nose stretched out just a little bit. His scars from his monthly transformations dissolved into his skin, and he suddenly felt no pain in his back (that was always a side-effect from lycanthropy for him). He grew extremely lanky and his robes got baggier.

Sirius, on the other hand, shrunk about a foot and a half. His hair lightened to a rusty red color. His facial hair disappeared, and was replaced by glasses. His hair went from gracefully long to short and badly cut in seconds. Sirius also gained a bit of a gut, as his muscle gave way to fat. His robes tightened around the waist. He'd forgotten that young Jonas had been a pig. They were both Gryffindors, so they quickly took robes from their own younger selves' respective drawers and put them on in a flash.

Remus looked at Sirius and laughed. "You turned into a little obese goblin!"

"Oh yeah?" Sirius shot back. "You turned into a walking broomstick!"

Remus stopped laughing and looked at Sirius with an odd look. Sirius shrugged. "I should have chosen handsomer folks," he said.

Remus nodded in agreement. "No matter, we need to get to the Quidditch field! Here, let's take an extra bottle each," Remus grabbed two more flasks of Polyjuice and tossed one at Sirius, who grabbed it and stuffed it in his pocket. The pair fled down the hall and out of Hogwarts, towards the Quidditch field. They simply blended in with the crowd of people heading down to the field. Lily was a few rows in front of them. She was talking with Severus Snape.

"Why the bloody hell would she want to associate with Snivellus Snape?" Sirius whispered to Remus. Remus shrugged and kept walking.

When they arrived at the field, Sirius and Remus stood in the back of the crowd. Sirius had to stand on the back railing to be able to see over the crowd. Both of them quickly got sight of James and Bastet flying around at the speed of light. They did a few somersaults (getting the Gryffindors cheering) and high-fived each other. Bastet then looked towards Sirius and waved. Sirius waved back, but she was waving at Young Sirius, who happened to only be standing a few yards away with Young Remus and Peter beside him. Young Sirius winked and waved back. Old Sirius couldn't help but admire how incredibly beautiful she was, with her long hair flying behind her like a banner. Her hair was yellow-gold today…one of the Gryffindor colors. Coincedence? Sirius didn't think so. He had always suspected that she was a Metamorphagus, and today was a good day for him to prove it…

Madam Hooch released the Quaffle, and the game began. The bludgers and Snitch were then released. The Gryffindors began chanting "Go, go, Gryffindor!" Remus and Sirius began chanting too, even though they knew the game was theirs already. They just didn't want to spoil it for everyone else.

James was quite the Chaser. He scored two goals within the first 90 seconds of the game. The Slytherins were already booing him and his teammates…they never really were good sports. James nearly got clobbered by a flying bludger after a few more minutes, but luckily, Bastet managed to hit it the other way with the end of her broom, as there were no Beaters nearby. James and Bastet nodded at each other and kept playing.

Bastet was also an exceptional player. For the first 20 minutes, she didn't let a single Slytherin Quaffle fly by her. Then, something happened Sirius HAD forgotten for some reason. A Slytherin Beater was riding alongside a Slytherin Chaser who had the Quaffle. He saw a bludger fly close, and he gave a smirk and looked at Bastet, smacking the bludger right at her. Both Siriuses shouted a warning, but it was too late. Bastet, in an attempt to avert the bludger, got knocked off her broom, which fell to the earth. Bastet's quick reflexes, however, allowed her to grip onto the center ring and hold on for dear life. She had no chance to stop the Slytherins from scoring three times in quick succession. The Gryffindors were all on the edge of their seats, booing the cheating Slytherins, and in turn, the Slytherins were cheering for their team to keep scoring bit by bit.

Sirius noticed Young Remus begin muttering something under his breath. Bastet's broom was beginning to shake and hover a little bit underneath her. Sirius turned to Remus and whispered. "Remus, look at yourself! You're trying some wandless magic to give Bastet her broom!"

Remus smiled. "You can thank me later," he said, smirking. Meanwhile, Young Remus wasn't having much luck. He hadn't hit his main growth spurt until 6th year, so his eye contact kept getting broken. Old Sirius bit his lip as Young Sirius began to look very worried.

James on the field was trying to get low enough so he could get the broom for her. The Slytherins scored a few more times…and the game was tied. James couldn't get low enough. Bastet kept holding on for dear life over 100 feet in the air. Suddenly, she let one hand go. The Gryffindors gasped. Old Sirius suddenly recalled something and relaxed his shoulders. Old Remus, seeing this, did the same, knowing what Sirius was thinking. Their younger selves were still hissing and shouting in anxiety.

Bastet reached with her free hand and shouted, _"Accio, broomstick!"_

The broom flew off the ground and shot up into Bastet's hand with a single move. Bastet quickly got on her broom and got back to her post. The Gryffindors cheered, and Young Sirius and Peter hugged each other. Old Remus turned to Sirius.

"That's quite the lady you had there!" he muttered, elbowing Sirius in the stomach.

About 5 minutes later, the Seekers suddenly took off. Another few minutes, and the Gryffindor Seeker caught the Golden Snitch and waved it over his head. Everyone cheered as the Gryffindors crowded around Bastet and whoever the team Seeker was.

Old Sirius smiled. This game was even better to watch the second time around!

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Bastet was injured somewhat when the bludger attacked her, so she was taken to the hospital and diagnosed by Madame Pomfrey as having a few cuts and bruises along her arm, and a sprained elbow. Bastet was put in a sling, but before she could get out of bed to go back downstairs for lunch, she was crowded around by her fellow Gryffindors, admiring her bravery to hold on. James, Young Sirius, and Young Remus, along with Lily, were trying to edge their way to the front of the crowd. Old Remus and Sirius stayed behind to observe.

"I just thought of something," said Remus, leaning down to whisper to Sirius.

"What?"

"Pettigrew's all over us," said Remus. "Look!"

Sirius looked up. Indeed, little Peter was literally hanging off the back of James' robes in order to keep up with them.

"It's going to be hard to get them apart," said Remus. "And James was the one who insisted on letting him in with us. It might not be possible…"

Suddenly, as if on cue, James shoved Peter backwards, making him lose balance and fall backwards. The three Marauders didn't turn back to look at Peter, but instead edged their way to Bastet to ask how she was doing, etc. Peter got red in the face.

Sirius and Remus squinted and observed as a boy in green Slytherin robes whom neither of them knew before helped him get to his feet. Sirius and Remus had to act uninterested as the boy, who was clearly at least a 6th year, pulled Peter to the side.

"You alright, mate?" he asked.

"Yeah," nodded Peter.

"Do they…" asked the Slytherin boy, pointing at James and Young Sirius, "DO they always treat you like dirt?"

Peter thought a moment as Sirius and Remus leaned in to listen. "Sometimes. But they're all I've got," he said finally. "I can take some abuse…"

"But do you DESERVE abuse?"

"Huh…I guess not…" Peter said. "It normally isn't James as much as it is Sirius."

Old Sirius had to be held back by Old Remus to keep him from pouncing on Peter.

The Slytherin boy nodded again observantly. "Sirius is a git," he said. "Don't tell anyone, but I heard he cheats on his little rainbow-haired girlfriend…"

Old Sirius turned to Remus. "I did no such thing! Bastet was the world to me!"

Remus sighed. "I believe you."

Peter nodded with a small gasp. "He DOES get a lot of attention from the girls," he noted. "He could have any pick of girl in the school."

"Yet he sticks with a mudblood freak with the hair that comes in six designer colors," said the boy. Peter snorted back a laugh. "Peter, if you ever feel you need any REAL friends…" the boy pulled back his sleeve. A Dark Mark was permanently burned into his arm.

"Cool! A tattoo?" asked Peter. The other boy shook his head. His long blonde hair fell in his face ominously.

"Shit!" muttered Old Remus. "I know him! That's Lucius Malfoy!"

Sirius had already recognized him.

"Not just a tattoo, it's a Mark. If ever you need anybody worthy enough to talk to, come see me…"

"And I can get one too?"

"Yes," said Lucius Malfoy. Peter looked back at James and Sirius, who were hoisting Bastet up onto their shoulders like a heroine.

"But, they DID agree to be my friend," Peter said hesistantly.

"But just think about it…are they REALLY your friends?" asked Lucius. Before Peter said another word, Lucius disappeared into the crowd of people. Peter still looked confused and a little hurt, but he ran off to joint the crowd cheering on Bastet, the hero of the day.

Sirius and Remus looked at each other. Sirius grinned. "This changes things a bit."

"Now what?" asked Remus. Sirius chuckled a little bit to himself. Finally, things were coming together.

"We use the Time Turner and spring forward…to the night of the Yule Ball!"


	4. Yule Ball Part Deux

_**Chapter Summary: **__Remus and Sirius execute their plan on the night of Yule ball, and begin having doubts about their risky plan. _

_

* * *

_

Sirius and Remus did exactly that. In a remote spot, they whipped out the Time Turner and felt themselves go forward just a little bit in time. When they stopped, they were, indeed, in the Great Hall on the night of Yule Ball. The whole room was decorated with snow, ice, and glitter. Trees had been brought in by Hagrid, and Professor Flitwick did a great job with his famous decorating charms. A string band was warming up, and a few of the students had arrived early and were hanging out by the wall. Remus and Sirius realized they weren't formally dressed for the occasion, but no one had noticed them up until then anyways, so what real difference did it make. Just the same, Remus grabbed a big white bow on the wall and clipped it onto the front of his collar to look like a bowtie. Sirius snorted.

"You rebel, you," he teased.

"Well, last time I went to a formal event was…well…this, I believe," said Remus. He didn't get out very much due to his condition. He looked out the window. The moon was just beginning to wane. Good, he'd have hell to go through if tonight was a transformation night. He'd been lucky with the Time-Turner so far.

"Do you see us?" asked Sirius. Remus craned his head.

"Not yet…" he said. "So, what's our plan?"

"We take Pettigrew aside and convince him that he needn't be with the Marauders anymore," said Sirius. "Simple as that!"

"But, HOW do we convince him?" asked Remus.

Sirius glared at him. "You ask too many questions," he answered. Remus suddenly stood up straight. "There I am with Lily!" he pointed. Young Remus, with Lily on his arm, came strolling down the staircase into the ballroom. Remus' dress robes were not much of an improvement on Old Remus' robes, but Lily, in her emerald-green dress, high on the neck with halter-like shoulders, looked like a gem. The green of the dress really made her red hair (swept up into a bun) stand our marvelously, and it made her green eyes stand out even more against her creamy skin. Remus grinned.

"Now I see why James was so jealous of me for asking…"

But Sirius wasn't listening now. For as Young Remus and Lily stepped onto the landing, Young Sirius was coming down the stairwell with Bastet on his arm. Sirius' long hair wasn't pulled back in a ponytail like Remus', but rather was worn down in a casual yet handsome look. Bastet, her hair the color of a holly wreath (she'd even put red berries in her hair to make it look so) wore a very old-fashioned gold dress with bare shoulders and a puffy, sweeping skirt that even had a small train to it. Unlike Lily, Bastet wore her hair down. But she looked like a Christmas angel had fallen to Earth. Sirius couldn't believe he didn't see such beauty in her when he was younger. Remus and Sirius greeted each other as Lily and Bastet told the other how gorgeous they looked.

"Sirius, you really did find a jewel," Remus muttered. "I really hope that this works out for her sake at the very least."

Sirius sighed. If they were successful, she'd be his wife when they returned to the present. He just knew it.

Then came James and Peter. Both Remuses and Siriuses laughed. Bastet laughed too, but Lily just stared with an odd look on her face. James looked rather dashing in his dress robed. But Peter…well…the Polyjuice Potion may have gone a little stale, because while Peter did make a rather attractive woman, the big nose that was clearly Peter's was unavoidable. Plus, he looked awkward in his marshmallow-shaped pink evening dress Lily had lent him.

Suddenly, James looked over at Remus and Sirius (the disguised ones), who were laughing a little too loudly. The pair clamped their hands over their mouths and looked awkwardly at James. Remus and Bastet also seemed to be confused by the two random students trying to eavesdrop on them. Remus recalled this happening when he'd lived it the first time…odd.

But luckily, James and Peter didn't seem to mind. They group just turned away from them and continued their conversation. Sirius leaned in to Remus.

"So, how exactly do we do this?" he asked.

"I'm thinking! I'm thinking!" Remus said, waving Sirius out of his face. They simply sat and stared at their former selves as more young witches and wizards piled into the Hall. It wasn't until the three Triwizard Champions, two girls and a boy, were doing the first dance when Sirius got an idea.

"We need to wait until after James and Peter are crowned and such. Remember how embarrassed Peter was, and he ran off by himself? Then, we need to get to Peter while he's alone and convince him that James has been unfair to him and he needed to find some new friends, like Lucius," said Sirius. Remus shook his head disapprovingly.

"But…isn't that just as bad, getting Pettigrew involved with Malfoy?" Remus asked.

"No!" said Sirius. "Because then he'll feel spiteful towards James and I, and we WON'T be friends after school, and then he'll never know about Harry, and we'll never see each other again! It's not like we can make everything all hunky-dory for everyone! Besides, don't you think Peter had sort of an 'in' with Malfoy anyway? He was a double-spy!"

"True," said Remus. "Still, there's just something I don't like about this plan…there's got to be another…"

"Screw that! Food's out!" Sirius yelped happily. At the table in front of them, Dumbledore waved his hand, and plates and bowls of hot cider, turkey, and other holiday treats appeared. Remus and Sirius decided to help themselves and sat down at the table behind their younger alter egos. Sirius still couldn't get over how wonderful Bastet looked. He got chills down his spine as Young Sirius asked Bastet to dance, and Young Remus asked Lily. James hopped up with female-Peter and did a more goofy-version of the slow dance.

Soon, Minerva McGonagall quieted the dancers. Old Remus and Sirius got up and went to the door they knew Peter would run out of, humiliated. They then took a sip of Polyjuice Potion to be safe in their disguises.

"And our Prince and Princess of Yule are…" she announced, opening the results sheet. "James Potter and….his date?"

McGonagall looked slightly perplexed as James and Peter hopped onstage and were crowned. Their faces were blushed. James was going along with it, but Peter seemed stiff. Suddenly, his female face began bubbly. The crowd gasped as Peter morphed back into himself. After a moment of silence, the crowd roared with laughter. James laughter at Peter alongside them.

"Who would've thought?" he marveled. "What can I say? I guess there are TWO Princes of Yule! Though I must say, Wormtail, that pink really sets off your eyes!"

Peter fled. Old Remus held out a hand. "Wait a moment…"

Peter brushed past them and headed for the dormitory. Sirius called out, "Shoulda warned you, mate," he said. Peter turned and looked at then.

"Who the bloody hell are you?" he asked with a tremble in his voice.

"Jonas," introduced Sirius. He then pointed at Remus. "And Stanley."

"What did you mean by 'warn me'?" asked Peter.

"James Potter is a right mean git, isn't he?" said Remus. It felt damn weird saying that about James Potter.

"Damn right," Peter said. "He made a fool of me, and here I thought we were just having some fun."

"Here's some news for you, Peter. James Potter only cares about having fun for HIMSELF. He'd sell anybody out if it meant he got off," Sirius said.

"No, not Prongs…I mean, James!" Peter said. "If it weren't for him, I still wouldn't have and friends!"

"But DO you, really?" said Sirius, pointing in the ballroom. "Those gits aren't your friends. Friends wouldn't have embarrassed you onstage, or shoved you aside, or give you the cold shoulder. Or even make you take the rap for pranks…"

"He DOES do that to me a bit," said Peter. "But he's nice to me too…"

Remus shook his head. "That's just to make you keep on coming back for more," he assured. Peter knitted his eyebrows together. "You know who DOES sound like a real friend…"

"Who, Stanley? Jonas?"

"Lucius Malfoy," said Sirius. Peter gave Sirius an odd look.

"Padfoot and Prongs hate that boy, he's a Slytherin," said Peter.

"But he's a loyal man," Sirius continued. Remus had dropped out of the conversation now, because this was the spot he found a little off. "He'll take you in and treat you as an equal!" he promised. "Has he talked to you?"

Peter thought a moment. "Well…yes, he has…" Peter suddenly smiled. "You think he'll still take me in and make me his friend?"

"I bet he will, if you make sure you disassociate yourself from James Potter and his band of miscreants," Sirius assured. He was trying to make himself sound like his mother. "But, that's just our advice…"

"Pst! JONAS!" Remus warned, pointing in the ballroom. Young Sirius, Remus, Bastet, Lily, and James were coming out the door, looking for Peter.

"Uh, pardon us, we need to use the bathroom…" Sirius said quickly, stumbling over Remus to get into the shadows and watch. Sirius crossed his fingers.

"Wormtail!" called James. "I hope you didn't take any of that to heart in there…" he mumbled.

Peter was silent. Old Remus bit his lip.

"Oh come on," James continued, "You're the belle of the ball!"

"Don't tease him, Prongs," Bastet hissed. Young Sirius put his arm around her waist.

Peter suddenly spoke. "Leave me alone," he said. Old Remus sighed in relief. "You al treat me like rubbish, and I will not stand for it anymore."

"What the bloody hell are you talking about? It's all in fun!" Young Sirius said with ease.

"Yeah, for you, along with the time you blew up the fifth floor girls' bathroom and left me to take the fall…"

"I remember that," Old Sirius whispered to Remus.

"And the time I nearly had a girlfriend, and you guys teased us so much about it the girl got too embarrassed to ever ask me out again! And what about the eat Slugs spell you so kindly cast on me third year just to 'see if it worked'? I'm through with the lot of you!" Peter raged. "Find yourselves a new monkey!" And with that, Peter stormed up the stairs to Gryffindor tower, leaving the others completely silent. Bastet ripped herself from Sirius' side, surprising both Siriuses.

"You boys are so immature!" she hissed. "WORMTAIL! WAIT!" she called, running up the stairs. Lily and Young Remus looked at each other.

"Come, Moony, maybe we can talk some sense into him," Lily said, giving James a stink eye.

Young Remus nodded. "I just hope we're not too late," he said. And with that, Lily and Remus dashed up the stairs after Peter and Bastet.

Young Sirius and James looked at each other, shrugged, and followed them up the stairs. Remus and Sirius came out of the shows and looked at each other with looks of worry.

"You think Peter won't reconcile with us?" Remus asked.

"There's no way of telling," said Sirius. "What I'm worried about is if Bastet didn't just break up with me."

"I don't know about you, but I'm afraid that we'll spring forward, and I'll find myself married to Lily Evans Lupin," Remus said with a significant tone of fear to his voice.

"We did all we could, now we have nothing left to do but go back to the present and see what damage we've done…" Sirius said. Remus nodded and took the Time-Turner out of his pocket. After looping the chain around both of their necks, Remus began flipping the hourglass in reverse, counting the revolutions as he turned and turned…

And suddenly the world faded away from around them as they left the past behind in hopes of returning to a better future.


	5. Another Life: Part I

_**Chapter Summary (BTW, This chapter comes in 2 parts…): **__Remus and Sirius return back to the present and think they've found a better life…BUT…_

* * *

Upon returning back to the present, Sirius and Remus quickly went outside the Hogwarts grounds and Apparated back to 12 Grimmauld Place. The first thing they recognized was that everything looked exactly the same, except the bookcase that Remus had tipped over was back where it was before, and the book was exactly where it had been before Sirius discovered the Time Turner. But, there were no signs of the Order of the Phoenix. No signs that absolutely anything had changed whatsoever. Sirius and Remus were speechless.

"Well, that's that," Remus said with defeat in his voice.

"You think Wormtail made up with James?" asked Sirius.

"I don't see any evidence that would suggest otherwise," Remus said back. Sirius pounded his fist on the top of the bookshelf in anger. He had been so hopeful that maybe, just maybe, he would have had his chance with Bastet and a family. That James and Lily would still be around to raise Harry on their own instead of in the hands of that god-awful Muggle family.

"Damn!" Sirius cursed under his breath. Remus put a comforting arm around him.

"We tried. It was just a notion after all, wasn't it?" Remus said. Sirius pulled away from Remus and looked out the window.

"I just hoped is all," said Sirius. "Maybe if we went back to seventh year and tried it—"

"—Like hell, Sirius. You know how complicated going back in time twice to the same period is…not only will we have to avoid everyone, but we'd have to avoid our OTHER selves trying to change what was already changed! Then it really shouldn't have been changed at all!"

"Remus, I think I need a lie-down," Sirius said.

"Tired from the trip, eh?" Remus asked.

"No, I can't understand a WORD you're saying to me," Sirius groaned. Remus nodded.

"I'll make us some tea," said Remus. "I'm not really in the mood for going home so soon after the trip. Mind if I stay the night in Regulus' old room?"

"Guess not," Sirius said, wandering dazed back into his own room.

But…it wasn't his room. It couldn't have been. All the posters, the bed, everything was stripped bare. All the mementos Sirius had left scattered on the floor were gone. It was like a hotel room after someone had checked out. Sirius had to look twice. Had…had something changed after all?

A tap on the window interrupted Sirius' thoughts. It was a small brown owl with a missive in it's claws tapping on the window. But…how? Sirius opened the window and let the owl in. He took the letter from it's talons and opened it. The handwriting was completely unfamiliar. Sirius began reading the letter, and with every word read, his heart beat a little faster:

_Father,_

_Where are you and why aren't you back yet? I sent Puck with this and asked him to find you and bring you back with him. I miss you. No offense to my godparents, but they insist on treating me like a fugitive like their own son, despite me always reminding them that I am NOT on the run from ANYONE! And that's when they usually send me to the cot without supper. Morgause doesn't fair much better. She's only 11, she needs some air! Please come and take me and Morgause away from this hell. The Potters are nice people, but neither of them are my father. _

—_Vivienne—_

It took only a second for Sirius to realize who Vivienne or Morgause were. When he did put two and two together, he let out a happy yell. There was a crash downstairs, and Remus came bounding into the room seconds later.

"What the devil…?" Remus began. But Sirius excitedly shoved the letter into Remus' hands. As Remus read, a smile spread widely over his face. "I'll be damned…" he muttered. "Sirius, you're a father!"

"Twice! Twice a father!!" Sirius laughed. Remus and Sirius hugged joyfully, as if it were the night the author of the letter was born. "And—"

"—They're staying with The Potters!" Remus said with a significant joy in his voice. "Where are they?"

Sirius red the note again. "No clue, but this owl can take us to them," Sirius turned to the owl, who was pecking at the one thing in the barren room, a broomstick. "We'd have to ride double, but…"

"…Sirius? Why does Vivienne talk about herself and Morgause NOT being on the run?"

"Damned if I know! She's probably a teenager! Teenagers talk like that ALL the time!" Sirius said, laughing. He then went to the corner to pick up the broom. "Come, Remus! Let's go!"

Puck began hooting like crazy to bid Remus and Sirius to follow him. Once both men got onto the broom, Sirius in front steering, Puck shot himself out the window, and Sirius did the same.

* * *

The little brown owl led them miles and miles out into the country, over countless hills and such. The trip took nearly an hour on broomstick. When the owl finally swerved into the window of a house, they were in a small little hamlet with no more than six or seven houses and 2 public buildings, all designed like old cottages.

"Godric's Hollow," diagnosed Remus. "Why are we at Godric's Hollow?"

Sirius shrugged and tossed the broom aside. He had landed himself and Remus about 50 feet from the house. Outside the house was a girl about 13 years old from the looks of her. She wore her dark brown (nearly black) hair down over her eyes, and her clothes were clearly secondhand Muggle clothes. But, her eyes and her hair no doubt made her Vivienne (or Morgause?). Her face was very mature and attractive for a 13 year old-or-so girl. She looked up, and as she saw Sirius approaching, she shot to her feet and ran to her father.

"Daddy! You're back! You got Puck!" cried the girl.

"Vivienne…?" Sirius said, trying hard not to make it sound like a question. The girl didn't object, so Sirius assumed this was Vivienne. She smiled. Her smile, pretty much everything about her appearance was her father's.

"Daddy, can we just take Morgause and go home?" begged Vivienne. "I keep telling Uncle James that just because Harry has to stay cooped up twenty four hours a day doesn't mean I have to! I'm not even supposed to be out HERE!" said Vivienne, the tone in her voice made it seem like she was proud to rebel against authority. Remus noted this and whispered in Sirius' ear.

"Yep, she's yours," he muttered. "She's a spitting image of you, and she loves bending the rules!"

"Where's Morgause and Uncle James?" asked Sirius. Vivienne pointed to the cottage.

"Where do you think? In THAT prison! When will school start again, Dad?" asked Vivienne.

"Um…soon enough, I suppose," said Sirius.

"Because Morgause goes in the fall too! I hope she won't be with me in Gryffindor. That would grow annoying fast!" Vivienne said. Sirius laughed. Truly her father's daughter.

Remus, Sirius, and Vivienne quickly walked into the cottage. Vivienne dashed up a small set of stairs. She called with her loud, gruff voice, "MORGAUSE! HARRY! UNCLE JAMES! AUNT LILY!! DADDY'S BACK! AND THEY HAVE UNCLE REMUS WITH THEM!!" she cried. She then turned back to Remus and Sirius. "I'll grab my bags!"

"Vivienne Andromeda! Shush! Uncle James is still napping!" cried a motherly female voice Sirius recognized all too well.

As soon as Vivienne went upstairs, a smaller girl came tumbling down the stairs at the speed of light. She looked almost nothing like her sister. This girl had light strawberry blonde hair that fell thin and straight, rather than Vivienne's thick curls. She had softer eyes and a plumper frame too.

"Morgause, Daddy's back!"

The girl smiled. "Yay!" she said, leaping right up into Sirius' arms. "Uncle Remus, how are you?"

"Quite well, Morgause, quite well," said Remus with a grin. Sirius never looked younger or happier.

Vivienne came tripping down the stairs with a very recognizable Harry Potter behind her. "See, I TOLD you sending Puck would work! You and your stupid boy ideas!" she spat. Harry looked somewhat different to Sirius. His hair was very long and shaggy, almost longer than Sirius' hair. He didn't have the scar on his forehead, and his body was a little more well-fed looking. He held a magic book in his hand.

"Oh, do pipe down, Vivienne. As soon as you leave, all of Godric's Hollow will be quieter!"

"I take after my father!" Vivienne beamed. Sirius grinned and set Morgause on the ground.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that, Harry?" asked Sirius. Harry smiled and went to hug his godfather. Harry's hug seemed a bit…colder, maybe a bit less passionate than what Sirius remembered. And why should it have been otherwise? Harry had his parents now!

More footsteps on the stairs brought Lily into view, and soon she was followed by James in a bathrobe. If Sirius didn't know any better, he would've asked those two old folks where James and Lily Potter were. These people certainly couldn't be the young, happy, vivcious people Sirius knew in his youth? Remus couldn't believe it either.

Lily looked nothing like she did at the Yule Ball. Her red hair, while still bushy, was streaked with premature gray. Her one gorgeous green eyes were now shallow shades of a mossy green. She was worn, tired, and not nearly as vivacious as she was before. James, on the same end, was entirely gray-haired (again, prematurely). He had a pronounced 5-o-clock shadow and his 'manly' figure was nothing more than a stick of his former self. These people looked like they should've been 50. They made Remus look like a college freshman!

"Padfoot, you weren't supposed to be back for a week and a half!" James said. His voice was one thing that hadn't changed.

Remus went into the kitchen with Lily and James, while Sirius stayed out in the living room to talk with his daughters and godson. Remus knew he had to be careful, because he was supposed to know everything that he really didn't.

"Well, what a gorgeous day, huh?" Remus said looking out the window. Lily nodded.

"It's lovely," she answered.

"A wonderful son, a nice house in a small town, and friends like Padfoot and I, what more could you want in this glorious life?" Remus praised. Just living this life for 15 minutes made him feel world younger.

James groaned. "How about our freedom?"

"Huh?" Remus was caught off guard.

James gave Remus a freakishly depressing look. "This life is possibly the worst life I could imagine, second only to registered Muggle-borns, of course."

"What?" Remus suddenly thought of something. Where…where was Bastet? She was a Muggle-born, wasn't she?

Lily nodded. "It's actually days like this my heart goes out to all of them."

"Wait…I'm a little sick and can't recall…what are you talking about?" asked Remus. James raised an eyebrow. "I took too much medicine," was Remus' reply to the look.

James gave Remus another weird look and leaned on the table. "Well, ever since Lord Voldemort took over the Wizarding world, every registered Muggle born has been locked away in Azkaban for life on the charge of being a traitor. Why do you think Vivienne and Morgause are here instead of with Bastet?"


	6. Another Life: Part II

_**Chapter Summary (Part II)**_: _Remus and Sirius find that not all things have changed for the better for everyone. _

_

* * *

_

Remus thought he was hearing things, but he knew it was risky to ask more information. So he said solemnly, "Yeah, that's right," and looked out the window, biting his lip. What exactly did James mean? That all the Muggle-born wizards and witches who weren't in hiding were shoved in Azkaban until they died? What Bastet in Azkaban now?

James didn't seem to notice Remus' discomfort. "Sometimes, you know, I wish we could all just fly away from here," he said woefully. "You and Sirius are rather lucky Voldemort isn't after you."

"Oh?" Remus asked. Lily filled a tea kettle with water and placed it on the stove to boil a bit. She then looked through the other kitchen window that looked into the living room. From what Remus saw, Harry and Vivienne were goofing around like siblings. Vivienne was casting trick spells with her wand. Harry didn't appear to even HAVE a wand, so he just swatted her away as she buzzed around him. Sirius was talking with Morgause sitting on his lap.

"Poor Harry," Lily moped. "He's a 15 year old boy. He deserved to have a wand and go to Hogwarts like Vivienne and Morgause, and all the other children with magic in their blood other than their own."

So, Harry hadn't even gone off to school? Lily continued. "Sometimes, I lie awake in bed, and James and I discuss turning ourselves in and sending Harry off to school like he needs."

Remus shook his head. "You can't do that."

"I'd die for my son," Lily insisted. "Besides, Bastet's in Azkaban, maybe we could give each other a little hope…if she'd even still alive in there. I don't know how long a small little witch like her could last."

"You can't say that," James said. "Bastet may be small, but she's sturdy as a horse, right Moony?" James said, looking hopefully at Remus.

Remus recalled seeing the Quidditch game, and how Bastet managed to hang on to the center hoop and still use a hand to summon her broomstick. She was indeed sturdy. James just nodded.

"But we have been stuck inside this house, with only a few small windows open for fresh air for 14 years straight, and having owls bring our grocery packages. Other than you, Sirius, and Sirius' girls, we talks to nobody. We see nobody with used to know. Harry doesn't have any friends because he can't get out to make any friends."

"If Harry ever wanted a wife or a family of his own, he'd have no choice but Vivienne, really," said Lily.

James continued. "And because he never went to school, Harry doesn't even have a wand!" James said, mumbling most of his words.

"But Harry really is a talented boy. He insisted to us that because he doesn't have a wand of his own, he will practice wandless magic, and boy can he do wandless magic! Just last week he conjured a fire that nearly set the roof on fire!"

"No kidding?" asked Remus. He really didn't need James and Lily to tell him how much potential Harry hand within him.

James looked proud. "I have no doubt he'd be the star of his class…if he HAD a class…only purebloods and at LEAST half-bloods are allowed to attend school anymore."

"Harry is a growing boy, and yet he's confined to the house because of me, and because of the prophesy and Voldemort's choice against him," Lily moaned.

Remus hadn't thought of that. They may have shoved Pettigrew out of the picture, but that wouldn't have affected the prophesy being made, nor Voldemort's choice to anoint Harry his enemy. The only thing that affected was the betrayal…so the Potters were condemned to hide until Voldemort was defeated…but without school, Harry had no chance! So basically, that mean Voldemort would never be defeated! The Potters would be condemned to be kept in this small cottage until they died!

"I know it keeps us safe," said James. "But as Lily just said, I would die just to have Harry attend school and to just…just live life, you know?"

Remus nodded and bit his lip. He knew something was off about their plan. He knew it all along.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sirius was still trying to figure out where Bastet had gotten off to. Both Vivienne and Morgause seemed to want to avoid the subject and always changed the conversation when Sirius asked where their mother was. Sirius' heart grew heavy every time Vivienne changed the subject, or whenever Morgause didn't answer him back. Did they divorce? Or did Bastet die anyways? Or was she an Auror that was always away on duty? Sirius needed answers, but he also needed to be careful about how he posed the question. Because, and this was the most complicated part, he KNEW already, but he didn't know.

"Morgause Igraine?" asked Sirius. What odd names, Morgause Igraine and Vivienne Andromeda. He did know where the Andromeda came form, of course, but the other names must have been Bastet's doing.

"Yes, Daddy?"

"Why won't you tell me where Mummy is?" asked Sirius. Vivienne and Harry looked up from the chair where Harry was curled up with his book.

"Because…you don't like to talk about it," Harry said. "You've told me several times."

Sirius bit his lip. Crap, this WAS hard. Vivienne saw his distress.

"We think about her every day too, locked up in that terrible—"

"—Vivienne!" hissed Harry. "Shut up!"

Sirius held up a hand. "I'd like to hear what Vivienne has to say," he insisted with a tone of authority in his voice.

"Daddy, did you put a Memory charm on yourself?" asked Vivienne. "Because you know what happened and where Mummy is, don't you?"

"I'm ill," said Sirius. "That's why I'm here early. My minds gone batty," he said. "Please, tell me where Bast—I mean, Mummy went."

Vivienne's eyes went sad as she sighed and sat down on the sofa next to her father and sister. Harry closed his book and looked as if Vivienne was about to tell him a story.

"Daddy, Mummy's in Azkaban," says Vivienne. Sirius gave a look of horror and surprise.

"How…why…um…?" was all Sirius could choke out.

"Maybe I should tell the whole story, to jog your memory again, daddy,' said Vivienne. Morgause squirmed in her seat.

"Vivienne, no!" Morgause whined. "I hate it! I hate the story!"

"Then go in with Uncle James and Uncle Remus in the kitchen," said Vivienne. Morgause hopped off Sirius' lap and ran into the kitchen, slamming the door behind her. Vivienne looked after Morgause, flipped her think dark hair over her shoulder and brought her knees up to her chest.

"Go on, Vivienne," said Sirius.

Vivienne nodded. "14 years ago, after You-Know-Who took over, Harry and his parents got some bad news about Harry and went into hiding here. You're the only one they told. But then, even more bad news came out a few years later. You-Know-Who had made a decree that all Muggle-born wizards were to register with the Ministry, which he controlled and still does," Vivienne explained. "Lucky for Aunt Lily, she didn't have to register because she was already hiding. Some Muggle-borns DID hide, but most had to register. A year after Morgause was born, Mummy was forced to register. Don't you remember, Daddy? That big office and that long line that took us four hours to stand in? Mummy had to register herself as a Muggle-born, and you had to register as being married to a Muggle-born. Morgause and I had to be registered too, as half-bloods, but of course, we were too young to write then, so you did it…"

"Go on," Sirius said. Harry gave Vivienne a look of concern, and Vivienne gave him a nod.

"And then, remember how Mummy lost her job only a little while later as a Auror? And how she had to produce an ID everywhere she went, even restaurants and movie theaters? People who knew us before began to ignore us, and all my friends told me my mother was a mud….a mud…"

Sirius nodded. "You can say it, 'mudblood'" Sirius nearly had to spit out the word himself, it felt dirty coming off his tongue.

"Yeah, "Vivienne said uncomfortably. "And then, three years ago, remember how You-Know-Who began having trials for the Muggle-borns and sent them all off to Azkaban for life sentences? There were even a few Mass trials where 400 or so Muggle-borns were tried at once and sentenced at the same time. No one was ever found innocent, and Azkaban got so full they had to expand it by four times its normal size and the dementors had to double in size and population to control it all," Vivienne shuddered.

Sirius had a feeling he knew what was coming up next.

Vivienne continued, her voice getting increasingly shaky. "I still remember that very scary night. Don't you remember, Daddy? Some hooded Death Eater soldiers knocked on our door looking for Mummy? I remember because Uncle Remus snuck Morgause and me out the back window and took us to his apartment, but when we returned home, you were there, crying and sad because they'd taken Mummy away. She's in jail, Daddy. She's never coming out again. We haven't seen her in four years," Vivienne nearly cried. But she maintained composure. Sirius held out an arm, and Vivienne fell into it, sobbing.

"I'm sorry I made you say all that," Sirius said. "I remember it all now."

Harry got up from his seat and hugged Vivienne from the other end of the sofa. "Uncle Sirius, I was thinking a lot about that lately. Have you ever considered visiting her?"

"Visiting her? You can visit the prisoners in Azkaban?" asked Sirius. As he recalled, when he was there, no one was allowed to visit, other than those goddamned dementors.

"Well, not exactly," said Harry. "But I heard an advertisement on the radio. They've started doing Azkaban tours for pure-blooded tourists from abroad. I was thinking, maybe you could 'get lost,' and…"

Sirius began to laugh a little bit. "You've got the mischievous soul in you, just like your father," he noted. Harry gave him an odd look.

"My father a trouble maker? Very funny, Uncle Sirius," Harry said. Sirius snorted.

"You know, Harry. I think you've really got an idea. A really good idea."


	7. The APCCMBT Tour

_**Chapter Summary: **__Sirius decides to go visit Bastet in Azkaban._

_

* * *

_

Much to the protest and dismay of Vivienne and Morgause, Sirius decided to leave them in the care of the Potters for one more night as he ventured off to Azkaban for one of their 'tours' of the prison. He almost asked Remus to come along, but then decided against it. Being a werewolf, no doubt there were new regime laws against him too. So Remus decided to stay with the Potters and get to know more about Vivienne and Morgause, as well as the 'new' James and Lily. So Sirius rode off to Azkaban alone.

Sirius' jaw nearly dropped right off his face when he saw what had become of the prison in which he'd spend 12 years of this life. The whole place was a LOT bigger (hadn't Vivienne mentioned it being expended by four times its original size?) and dementors sat in front of every door and external window in the place. There was even a separate entrance for the new prisoners, where they were herded off the huge flying carriages and cars driven by Death Eaters. Sirius, looking down at the prison, felt shivers go up and down his spine. His wife was somewhere inside, suffering to death but not dying. Sirius quickly got into the 'tour' line with the other pure-blood tourists. One recognizable face was easily spotted in the crowd. Lucius Malfoy and his little demon of a son, Draco, were a few people in front of Sirius in line. Draco looked like he was in line to get into a strip club, excited, a little uncomfortable, but clearly pleased to be there.

After Sirius paid 3 galleons to get in, he was herded into a smaller tour group…with none other than his dark cousin Bellatrix as the tour guide.

"Alright, our first stop on our tour of Azkaban Prison and Concentration Camp for Blood Traitors and Mudbloods will be the loading dock, where hundreds of new prisoners come in daily from all over Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, Holland, Belgium, and France," explained Bellatrix. Her voice had a sense of pride and privilege about it. Sirius made sure to keep his face hidden from her sight. She still looked incredibly insane to Sirius, but, she'd never been in Azkaban, so she didn't look nearly as ragged and utterly gross as before.

"The prison is divided into six main camps. One each for the British Mudbloods, the Scandinavians, the mainland Europeans, the blood traitors who disobeyed the laws of pureblood breeding set down by the Dark Lord, the children of said traitors who were mainly born after the new regime took place and, therefore, all are under the age of fourteen, and the rebels against the new regime, mainly made up of ex-Aurors and those associated with Albus Dumbledore."

When that name was mentioned by Bellatrix, nearly the entire group Sirius was traveling with booed and hissed.

But what disgusted Sirius most about this was the conditions of the place. They were tens times more in ruins than whenever Sirius had been in jail. They walked through a main corridor, and every so often, a smaller hallway would branch off the main one, with arrows indicating sections such as "**Torture and Interrogation Chambers**" or "**Scandinavian Mudblood Holding Cells**" or, the worst sign Sirius had seen yet: "**Mass Graves for Mudblood Prisoners: Authorized Personnel Only**."

"Yours truly," said Bellatrix, "has been graciously appointed by the Dark Lord as Head Torturer of the British and mainland prisoners." Sirius kept looking for a hallway that led to the British Muggle-born cells. None yet.

Bellatrix continued with her monologue. "We don't execute prisoners here on a regular basis. A prisoner will have to show extraordinary hopeless circumstances for himself and literally beg at my feet or the feet of some other authorized personnel in order to be considered for a swift and painless execution. The average execution only takes place once a week, and very rarely will _Avada Kedavra_ be used inside these walls. Other than to kill the occasional rat, of course."

Some people in the group actually began laughing at this incredibly dark joke. Suddenly, Sirius found his exit, and quickly broke off form the group and ran down the corridor that led to the British Muggle-born cells. No dementors or prison guards were in sight, but Sirius was nonetheless very wary of where he stepped. When he came into the first set of prison cells, he could barely stomach what he saw.

Countless rows and rows of cells of prisoners, some withered, worn, and on the brink of death, other were new arrivals, still scurrying around their cells like a lab rat in a cage, begging for help. Sirius noted that the more worn and helpless a prisoner looked, the less they moved around. The skinniest and dirtiest of the prisoners who were still alive were perfectly still, staring like madmen at the wall opposite them, looking almost like they were dead. Many of the cells had two or three prisoners in each small room. There was no light other than the occasional orange light of a torch. And there were no toilets, just piles of straw in the corners.

Sirius had to turn down three or four different hallways before he found who he was looking for. And when he found it, he wished he hadn't.

Bastet was sleeping on a pile of straw in the corner of her cell, who she shared with another girl who looked like she could be Harry's age, a girl with bushy brown hair and large front teeth. The smaller girl was napping with her head on Bastet's lap. Bastet's hair gave more color to the room than anything else; today it sported a bright indigo color. Maybe she wasn't a Metamorphagus after all. No Metamorphagus in their right mind would have brightly-colored hair in a place like this. Bastet looked somewhat in between those who looked like brand-new prisoners and those who looked ready to give in at a moment's notice.

"Pst! Bastet!" Sirius whispered, looking over his shoulder every few seconds to see if anyone was coming. "Bastet!"

Bastet and the second girl stirred and slowly awoke. The girl looked at the strange visitor and looked a little frightened. This girl hadn't been in prison for very long. Bastet looked around her cell first before looking at Sirius. When she did, she gasped and smiled widely, exposing the fact that two of her teeth had rotted and fallen out of her mouth. She sprang to her feet with newly found energy and ran to the barred door.

"Sirius! Oh god, Sirius!" she cried a little too loudly. Sirius bent down and kissed Bastet through the bars as she reached out and tried to grab him and hold him. "I've missed you so…how did you get in here?"

"I took a tour of this terrible place. I just had to see you," Sirius said. Bastet looked like she'd survived a nuclear attack, and yet now that she had this little spark of happiness in her life, her true beauty, not unlike that Sirius had seen at the Yule Ball, began shining through again.

Bastet turned to the younger girl. "Hermione! This is the man I told you about! My Sirius!"

"What is he doing here? The dementors will find him and then he'll be locked away in the rebel's camp" Hermione warned. Bastet shook her head.

"She's an incredibly smart young witch," bragged Bastet. "She was getting straight Os at Hogwarts until last year."

Hermione explained the rest herself. "I drank a Polyjuice Potion so I could look like a pure-blood girl who'd been expelled before I came to school, but then, during an inspection day, they took longer than usual and the Potion wore off before I could get to my stash of it," she said. Sirius bit his lip. "It was worth it," assured Hermione. "The three years I was at school were the best years of my life."

"How are our daughters? Vivienne? Morgause? And Remus, James and Lily? How are they all?"

Sirius touched Bastet's rough, scraped, and scarred arm. "Remus, James, and Lily are all fine. Vivienne's becoming feistier every hour, and Morgause is a spitting image of you," he assured.

"Can you get me out of here?" asked Bastet. Sirius shook his head sadly.

"I cannot," he said. Bastet began shaking.

"They've taken everything from me, Sirius! My home, my family! My hopes, dreams, and pride! They said I stole the secrets of magic from a pure-blood family and threw me in here without even giving me a chance to defend myself. Me and seven others were all on trial at once and we all were found guilty!" Bastet cried.

Hermione got to her feet and put her arms around Bastet. "There's no food," she explained. "Once or twice daily, Bellatrix Lestrange or Antonin Dolohov will come through and toss an apple or a slice of bread in each of our cells along with a cup of salt water. A single apple to last a whole day isn't nearly enough to help us. The salt water is dehydrating, and some are living in a single cell with four others!"

"I'm so glad it's just Hermione and I," Bastet remarked. "We still both have enough sense to split whatever scraps we get in half."

Sirius felt hot tears pour down his face to see his wife and the love of his life in such a sad state of being, if one could even call it being at all.

"I'd rather be dead than in here, Sirius," Bastet said, growing increasingly distressed. "I truly, truly wish that I'd have died years ago before this happened."

"Don't say that," said Sirius. "Keep hope, love."

"Hope?" spat Bastet. "What HOPE? What IS hope? Whatever it is, there's none to be found here! If I died years ago, I may not have lived a long life, but at least I lived a good life. Hermione and I, we're not living here. We don't live. We exist from feeding to feeding. We're put to sleep every night by the Dementors coming by to suck a little more of the life out of us, but leaving just enough so that he survive and recover just in time for the next night when they come through again! Sirius, I do not want to be alive. I would've rather died out in the streets without every having known this place! Even if I were only 20, it would be better having died beside all those happy memories that I can't even recall now!"

Hermione sighed. "Sirius, we both have been considering groveling for an execution…"

"You can't!" Siruis whispered.

"Bastet's right, Sirius," Hermione said. "We never grow numb to the pain of this place. I'm only 14 and the power of this place has eaten away at me. We both want to, and we both are seriously considering it."

"Sirius, please give my love to Vivienne and Morgause," said Bastet, who was shaking violently and had to turn away into a corner to vomit behind the pile of straw. Sirius cringed. Hermione didn't stir. She'd seen so many similar scenes, she was used to it.

Hermione did turn and go to comfort Bastet as she ralphed. Sirius felt another hot tear run down his face. But suddenly, he felt a hard clap on his shoulder. He spun around to face Antonin Dolohov, holding a bright yellow torch.

"Lost?" he asked. Hermione and Bastet didn't turn around.

"I wanted to see the prisoners," Sirius lied. "Why aren't they part of the tour?"

"The holding cells are off limits to tourists. Your time is up here, go on home," Dolohov said, pulling Sirius away from Bastet and Hermione without even the slightest chance to say good bye.


	8. To Live Free

_**Chapter Summary: **__Remus and Sirius discuss the current situation and contemplate what to do about it. A short filler chapter, but review me and love it anyways!_

* * *

Sirius' heart felt so heavy that it nearly threw him off balance and he could barely fly back to Godric's Hollow that night without falling off the broom at least twice. By the time he made it back to Godric's Hollow, it was close to 3 AM. But there was still a light on in the cottage where the Potters hid. Sirius parked the broom on the corner of the cottage and went inside. The light was coming from the den, where Remus sat in front of the fireplace drinking a mug of tea. Vivienne was curled up on the couch next to him, asleep. Harry was dozing in the chair he'd been sitting in earlier, his book still open in his lap. Sirius looked at the scene and almost felt like he was in a Christmas card. Ugh, there were so many good things about this universe, but so many more bad things! 

Remus heard Sirius come in. He stood up to face him, and immediately noticed that Sirius was intensely troubled. Remus felt he would be.

"How was your night?" asked Sirius, his tone bland and unfeeling. Remus looked behind him at Vivienne.

"The Potters went to bed early. I tucked Morgause in to bed at 8:30, and Vivienne, Harry, and I stayed up and talked until they fell asleep around midnight. I…I can't sleep myself, so I've just been sitting and thinking," Remus said. "Vivienne is like a female you, Sirius, I tell you. She gets into more trouble than she's worth, but she's got a heart of gold."

Sirius stared blankly at Remus as he continued.

"Morgause is more like her mother, so thoughtful and tolerant, but perhaps a little too shy for either of you," he said. "But you have two wonderful girls, Padfoot. I'm jealous."

Sirius began shaking. Remus could tell he wasn't helping. "Let's go into the kitchen. Let's not wake the children…" Sirius followed Remus into the kitchen and shut the door. Sirius turned his back to Remus and remained inert for a moment, before losing it and slamming his fist hard on the counter. Remus flinched and looked out the window into the den. Vivienne and Harry didn't even stir.

"Sirius! What happened at Azkaban?"

"You don't even know how horrible this is! I have children, but my wife, the woman I love more than anything in the world, is wasting away in the basement of a jail, contemplating begging for a quick and painless death as we speak!"

"Oh god…" muttered Remus, putting a hand to his mouth.

"That place is a thousand times worse than when I was there! They give guided tours through the place like it's a zoo, and the prisoners are animals! From all over Europe, Muggle-borns, Aurors, rebels, traitors, they are all starving and driven mad by the mere notion that they're going to die in those small cells the size of closets! It's overcrowded, the camps and sections are always dark as night, dementors float everywhere, and the only time those innocent people are let pout of their cells is to be tortured for information!" Sirius explained. "It's a hell on earth, and it's not even all for adults! Bastet shares a cell with his girl who's no older than Harry and Vivienne! She disguised herself so she could go to school, and she was caught and now is rotting away without even the slightest hope that she'll be able to read a damn book again!"

"Bloody hell," whispered Remus.

"And what's worse is that on the outside, life is so wonderful! I'm a father to two gorgeous and incredible daughters! My best friends are still alive and know who their son is and is growing up to be! Harry knows his parents—"

"—but that's about all he does know, Sirius," Remus interrupted. Sirius gave Remus an odd look. "Azkaban prison may be horrible, but James, Lily, and I talked while the children were eating supper."

Remus had to swallow back tears from forming in his eyes.

"They are tortured every day, knowing that they cannot smell the fresh summer air. They know that while it is keeping him alive, Harry is dying inside these walls. He needs to go to Hogwarts. He needs to live to be a 15 year old boy. He needs to date girls and play Quidditch, and get embarrassed when he walks in late for a class or forgets his homework. He isn't thriving in here. Neither are James and Lily. They don't want to see him in such a secluded state all the time, and it eats away at them constantly. Lily said that she'd give her life for Harry. Which, as I recall, she did at one point, once upon a time in another world…"

Sirius looked up from the floor and stared blankly at Remus.

"Vivienne, Morgause, you and I are Harry's only connection to the outside world," said Remus.

"But Remus! Life is so good too!!" Sirius said. Remus nodded.

"That's probably the worst part," said Remus. "Vivienne is such a headstrong, courageous, intelligent young woman. And Morgause is so passionate and sweet, she gives everyone a chance to be right. To not have them in the world would certainly be like extinguishing to the light of two stars in the sky! James and Lily are still so young; they care for nothing and no one but Harry, and Harry's wellbeing. You can't find many parents like them anywhere anymore."

Sirius nodded in agreement. "And the fact that Bastet has survived four years in Azkaban without going completely loony is amazing," he said. "She and that girl she shares a cell with cling to each other, and keep each other alive. If THAT isn't bravery, then I can't tell you what is."

Remus reached into his pocket and placed the Time-Turner on the table in front of Sirius. "It's your call," he said. "It will incredibly hard, but it can be done."

Sirius caressed the Turner with his thumb. "So much to sacrifice…again…"

"But yet so much will be gained," said Remus. "Thousands of people are being persecuted because the one who can defeat Voldemort hasn't, and never will be, found. Bastet, James, Lily, Morgause, and Vivienne giving up their lives to that the thousand others can be happy…that's really what living free is all about."

"They're lives are in my hands?" said Sirius. "Thanks, man, I feel loads better."

Remus gave a weak smile. "I'm leaving it up to you."

A whole ten minutes went by with Sirius just staring at the Turner. He then scooped it up and put it in his pocket. Remus dropped his shoulders. Sirius had made his choice.

Sirius went back into the den, followed by Remus. Sirius bent over Harry's sleeping body and kissed his forehead where his cursed scar would have been. "I'm doing this for you, knock 'em dead…literally," Sirius whispered in Harry's ear. He then turned to Vivienne and kissed her nose. "I have a feeling I'm going to miss you, even though you were never born," he whispered to her. Sirius looked up the stairs and sighed a moment. Then he turned to Remus and pulled out the Time-Turner, wrapping it around Remus' neck, then his own. Remus didn't even have time to say anything.

"We're gonna be late for the Yule Ball," Sirius said with a sad tone to his voice. This time, Sirius flipped the hourglass over and over and over…

Sirius kept his eyes on his sleeping daughter until the world got too blurry for him to see.


	9. Memory Lane Again

_**Chapter Summary: **__Remus and Sirius make haste of trying to fix what they broke before, but it's a lot harder this time around than it was before…_

_

* * *

_

The world came back, and before they could look at it, Remus and Sirius Apparated back to Hogwarts. Sirius had a very good hand at the Time-Turner, as they had arrived on the Hogwarts grounds the night of Yule Ball.

"Talk about convenient," Remus noted wittingly. Sirius said nothing. They'd again Apparated to outside the grounds, so they began running in towards the building. They had to be careful to conceal themselves from the Beauxbatons girls entering the castle now. For a moment, Remus and Sirius had to duck behind a wall and wait for the traffic of ball-goers fro Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to pass.

"We're probably in the ballroom already," Remus said. "By now we should just be hanging back and plotting how to—" He turned and looked at Sirius, who looked like a dog who'd been kicked by his master and sent to live outside. Remus decided not to talk so much. He knew half of Sirius didn't want to be here right now, but rather watching his children sleep before dozing off himself, a happily satisfied man. But, he couldn't be satisfied in that world. Not with so many innocent wizards and witches in jail for life, condemned to daily torture and starvation. That's what made Sirius take out the Turner.

Remus smiled and tapped his pocket. At least he had something that could help Sirius when they got back to the present. Sirius was too busy squinting and watching the crowd go by that he didn't notice Remus pulling out the photograph he'd taken of Vivienne, Morgause, Harry, James, and Lily. They were all smiling. Vivienne was giving Harry a noogie. Morgause was hugging Lily and smiling. James was standing behind them, trying without much luck to keep Harry and Vivienne apart.

If Sirius couldn't have his children, then at least he could have a memory of what could have been, and what was for one afternoon.

Sirius turned to Remus, and he quickly shoved the picture away. "The coast is clear," he said. He and Remus took off for the castle at full speed. It seemed like years passed before they managed to get into the building. Once inside the gate, they ducked behind a large statue of Helga Hufflepuff and caught their breath.

"We need to get to the Polyjuice Potion…" Remus began.

"No," Sirius quickly said. "We don't have time. Besides, Prongs is still up there with Wormtail, remember? We'll just have to be very careful about where we step. And remember, the Fat Lady thinks we're Squibs."

"Oh, right!" Remus nodded. Sirius sighed rather woefully and looked around.

"I think we can find a safe spot to watch the Yule Ball unfold," Sirius said. He got out from behind the statue and looked for a window or a door to watch, unnoticed, as the events unfolded before them. Sirius came back to Remus a second later. "There's a small window, and only one of us can fit in it."

"You go," Remus said. "I'll wait here and when you tell me, we can go up the stairs and wait for Wormtail."

Sirius nodded and went to the window. Inside, the ballroom was nearly full. Sirius saw himself and Remus in disguise staring at their younger counterparts from across the ballroom. He then looked closely at his group, laughing as Peter and James had just joined them. How could Bastet look even more lovely the third time he'd seen her looking the exact same way? Sirius felt the stone in his stomach lift off his abdomen and dissolve. Sure, he was losing her for good by doing this. But, as Bastet had told him herself, it would have been better to go with only happy times to recall, rather than slowly rotting away in a Death Eater prison. He had the feeling that one day, when he died years from now, she would be waiting on the other side of the veil with a big kiss just waiting for him. James and Lily would be waiting too, smiles across their faces, happier then they had been in life, knowing their son was a champion in defeating Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Sirius would love to even be the bearer of the news that Harry was a star Auror or even…a husband and father. The thought comforted Sirius as he watched.

Meanwhile, Remus stared at the photo of Vivienne and Morgause along with the others from behind Helga Hufflepuff. They had had such a good evening together while Sirius was off visiting his wife…

* * *

_"Uncle Remus!" Morgause came running down the stairs. "I made a picture for you!"_

_Remus smiled and took the piece of paper from Morgause. It moved. Morgause must have had a talent for art if she could make her doodles move. Art could only move like photos if it was made with a certain emotion in mind. Hate, anger, love, happiness, any emotion, as long as it was full. This particular drawing had Morgause, Vivienne, Sirius, and Remus climbing on top of a huge hill and waving, a heart-shaped cloud floating high above them. _

_"My, my, Morgause, you are quite the artist," Remus said. "It's lovely. I shall hang it up on my front door so everyone can see it!"_

_Morgause blushed. Meanwhile, Harry and Vivienne were having an argument on the floor._

_"No way in hell were the Salem Witch Trials real!" Harry protested. "They were just a bunch of silly girls like you making up stories so that they could dispose of anyone they hated!"_

_"Oh, shut up! There must have been at least ONE real witch in the lot," said Vivienne. "They just didn't hang her because she could have Apparated elsewhere while awaiting trail and used a Memory charm! Where else could Muggle have heard about wizards and witches?" _

_"Oh, YOU shut up!" Harry stuck out his tongue. "You must fall asleep at Hogwarts classes all the time because you KNOW that's not the case!"_

_"Go to hell, Harry!" Vivienne spat._

_"HEY!' Remus barked, sounding like a father himself. "Don't use that language around your sister, Vivienne! Why do you two bicker all the time like this?"_

_"Well, UNCLE JAMES," Vivienne sneered bitterly. "When you're locked up in a prison like this all summer—"_

_"Vivienne, please!" Harry said sincerely. Vivienne gave him a look. "Uncle Remus, you need to understand. I don't SEE anybody else. I don't get to have friends, or enemies, or anyone. So Vivienne and I fight because, really, it's all we've got."_

_"We usually make up at the end of the day, so we can start fresh the next morning!" Vivienne picked up. They smiled and nodded at each other. "We're like brother and sister!" _

_Remus couldn't stay mad, especially with the faces Vivienne and Harry were making. He laughed to show his forgiveness and understanding. Lily then came out from the kitchen._

_"Cake's ready!" she announced, setting down the plates, silverware, napkins, and the huge vanilla cake still hot. Remus licked his lips. He couldn't remember the last time he ate junk food. Vivienne, Harry, and Morgause all gathered greedily around the cake. "I think Uncle Remus should get the first piece," Lily said. _

_Remus didn't object. He tucked the corner of his napkin into the collar of his shirt and took a large piece of cake. The children helped themselves next, although not bothering to be so refined as to tuck their napkins in their shirts. After a second of slowly enjoying Lily's delicious cake, Remus looked up when he heard Vivienne scream. _

_"Harry! You'll die for this!" Vivienne screamed. Harry had taken a bit of cake and smeared it on Vivienne's nose when she wasn't looking up. Remus, Lily, and Morgause laughed from the couch. James came downstairs having just showered. _

_"What all this?" he asked before looking at the rather funny sight before him. Vivienne pouted and took her plate of cake in her hands. While Harry was still laughing, Vivienne got him right in the face with her entire piece. Harry fell backwards, and Vivienne dusted her hands off in victory. Remus gave a loud whoop and Morgause high-fived her sister. _

_Everyone was laughing. It was the way life should be. _

* * *

Remus hadn't realized he'd fallen asleep right there behind the statue. He looked at the clock and gasped. He ran to find Sirius glaring dreamily at Bastet. The crowning ceremony was over. Peter was becoming himself again, and the disguised Sirius and Remus were heading for the staircase.

"Sirius! We need to beat ourselves to the staircase!" Remus tugged at Sirius' shirt. Sirius came too and realized that they had to really run.

But just as they approached the bottom of the staircase, the disguised versions of themselves arrived. Remus and Sirius luckily were able to dive behind the stairs and wait the scene out. Their disguised selves were talking with Peter about dumping James

"Damnit!" Sirius hissed. "We failed," he said, watching through the railing as everyone else from their party came into view. Bastet in her elaborate gold dress that made her look like a princess, Lily in her sleek green dress that made her look like a move star, and the men in their handsome dress robes (Remus' were shaggy and too big for him).

"Not yet," said Remus. He heard footsteps on the stars above them and realized that Peter was rushing upstairs, followed closely by Bastet, Young Remus, and Lily. Their chance to meet him at the top of the staircase was ruined. "Tomorrow's another day," said Remus. "Think…what did we do the day after the Ball?"

Sirius thought a moment. "It was a day off of classes. The four of us…" Sirius looked up. "The three of us now…were down by Hagrid's hut, throwing snowballs at each other. Bastet and Lily were inside the Great Hall, studying."

"Where would Wormtail be now that he wouldn't be with us?" asked Remus.

"Probably talking with the Slytherins," Sirius thought. Remus nodded.

"We'll have to get up very early tomorrow and try and talk to him then," he suggested. "I guess we've found our hotel room, it's too late to get a room in Hogsmeade."

Sirius, already half asleep, willingly laid down and sighed. Remus laid down next to him and pulled out the picture, slipping is discreetly into Sirius' cloak pocket. He'd find it when they got back.


	10. I'm Ready Now

_**Chapter Summary: **__Remus and Sirius finally see an opportunity to fulfill their mission._

* * *

Both men woke up before dawn the next morning, because they wanted to get out from under the staircase before anyone caught them. They knew that everyone slept in the day after the Yule Ball, so they decided to take a trip up to the prefect's bathroom to wash off, a feat they hadn't done in days.

Once inside, Sirius began filling the pool and sighed as the bubbles began filling up the room. Remus looked around nervously.

"You really don't think anyone will come up here?" Remus asked.

"Relax, Remus. It's six in the morning. No one will be up before noon, let alone any prefects," Sirius assured. "Damn, I've never been in here before. Why didn't you tell me it was so nice up here? We could have had a damn pool party!"

"Against the rules," was Remus' reply.

"Meanwhile, I had to see Wormtail naked in the showers in the regular bathroom because it was always so cramped," Sirius shuddered. "That was what I saw when I saw a boggart for six years!"

"What about Moaning Myrtle?"

"Who cares? She's seen every man in this school naked at one point or another, the perverted young ghost…"

Remus sighed. He looked at Sirius and was puzzled. Why did he seem so cheerful this morning? It was almost like nothing had happened, and Sirius wasn't about to sacrifice his friends' and families' lives so that life was overall better for everyone.

Sirius began taking his clothes off right in front of Remus. He shut his eyes.

"Oh, come on, Remus! We've both seen each other!" Sirius sighed.

"I've never seen you…and when did you see me?" Remus thought a moment, almost horrified.

"Only every month when you transformed," replied Sirius. Remus hadn't thought of that, and he blushed. "We're both men, we both have the same parts. And so what if yours is half the size of mine? I won't tease you about it, promise," Sirius said, laughing.

Remus shrugged and stripped. He laid his clothes in a heap behind one of the stalls and looked quickly at himself in the mirror…God, he looked even older than ever. Both men got into the bathing pool and sighed as the warm water hit their bodies.

"Sirius? Why are you so…happy?" asked Remus. Sirius dunked his head underwater and re-emerged with his hair covered in suds.

"I had a dream last night," said Sirius.

"Oh?" asked Remus, scooping up a handful of water and splashing his face.

"Vivienne was there, and James was beside her. I don't know why it was just them, and no one else, but they were in Godric's Hollow, outside in the sun, playing with a big black dog…me. They were so happy and healthy, their smiles were huge. And then I realized, that they weren't in Godric's Hollow, they were in paradise. In Heaven. They were dead. Then, the dog ran off, and Vivienne waved it goodbye and said that even though she was never really there, she was still going to be waiting until the dog came back, and that Bastet and Morgause would be waiting too with plenty of dog biscuits. Then James said that the dog would be back 'this time next year.'"

Sirius looked at peace with his thoughts. Remus looked a little more concerned.

"Does that mean you'll be dead within a year?" he asked.

"I don't know. But Vivienne said that even though she never was there, she'd be waiting for me. She's going to be there when I die," Sirius said.

"Sirius, are you mad?" asked Remus. "You sound almost suicidal…"

"Not at all," said Sirius, blowing a small cluster of suds off his nose. "I'm just saying I find it so…comforting knowing that when I do die, and everyone dies Remus, that my family will be there waiting for. It will be just like how things were when we changed time for the first time, but without the sadness and Death Eaters. Be it tomorrow, next year, or in fifty years, I know that I never really lost Vivienne, Bastet, and Morgause. They'll be there waiting for me. Until then, they're in my heart."

"That's deep," said Remus. "Its too early in the morning for deep thoughts."

Sirius nodded. "I guess you're right."

Suddenly, from somewhere behind them, a door opened. Remus and Sirius dunked below the surface of the water. After a second, they re-emerged and stood absolutely still.

"Damn, it's Wormtail!" Remus whispered. Indeed, Peter was in the prefect bathroom, apparently wanting to take an early bath before he got caught.

"Should we?" asked Sirius. Remus nodded. Peter turned around and screamed at the sight of two unfamiliar older men. Sirius threw up his hands.

"Who the bloody hell are you?!" Peter screamed.

"We're ghosts!" Sirius immediately said.

"How come I've never seen YOU around here before?" asked Peter.

"We died last night in the forest," lied Sirius. Remus was impressed at how good at lying Sirius was. "But…we saw what happened with you last night at the Ball!"

Not only was he a good liar, but he certainly knew how to cut to the chase and fast.

Peter shrugged. "Ugh, my friends betrayed me is all."

Remus almost laughed at the irony of what Peter had just said. "We saw," was what he did say.

"Did you make up with them?" asked Sirius.

"Nope," said Peter blankly, taking off his pajamas shamelessly and crawling into the pool beside Sirius on the other side. He had to cringe, as if he had just had a bad flashback.

"Why not?" asked Remus.

"Because they don't give a damn about me anyways, so why should I play Mr. Sycophant anymore?" asked Peter. "I'm going to make some new friends."

"Don't," said Sirius. Peter's eyes widened.

"Why not?"

"Because James, Sirius, Remus, Bastet, and Lily are very trustworthy people. The Slytherins are NOT. They want a servant. James likes you and appreciates you, Peter," said Remus. "They were just having fun."

"Wasn't fun for me."

"Play all the tricks on him you want to get back at him," said Sirius. "But with him, every prank is harmless. The Slytherins are cold-hearted losers."

"Um…"

"Listen, Peter. Things aren't always as bad as they seem. They can always be a lot worse than they already are," Sirius assured. It hit him that he was spouting off his own Lesson for the Day.

"You think James'll take me back?" asked Peter. Remus perked up. Peter was seriously being moved by this.

"I have no doubt," said Sirius. Peter seemed lost in thought a moment. He popped out of the pool and ran for his clothes excitedly. Sirius cringed again.

"Thanks, you guys!" said Peter. "I'll go forgive him right now!" he ran out of the bathroom buck naked.

Remus looked at Sirius in silence. After a solid 10 seconds, they burst out in laughter and high-fived.

"We did it!" Remus said happily. Sirius sighed and climbed out of the pool to get dressed. Remus followed close behind. As soon as they were dressed, they dug out the Time-Turner. Remus looped it around his neck, then Sirius' neck. They stared at the hourglass a few moments.

"Well, here we go…" said Remus. Sirius nodded and patted his pocket where the picture of his family-that-didn't-exist lied.

"I'm ready now," Sirius said with a smile. Remus nodded, flipped the hourglass and counted as he did so.

And for what he was confident was the last time, Sirius watched as the world around him blurred away.


End file.
